City probes ownership of clerk's account

Michael P. Mayko

Updated 12:14 am, Friday, January 17, 2014

ANSONIA -- For its tax-strapped residents, paying the ninth-highest mill rate in the state, $380,000, $350,000 or even $270,000 is a sizeable sum.

But whether that sum -- sitting in a city-maintained Wells Fargo bank account -- belongs to Ansonia or to its former town and city clerk, Madeline Bottone, is a question that maybe only a court can answer.

The bigger question is why so many administrations allowed whoever was serving as the town and city clerk to take a salary as well as keep any excess in licensing, recording or certification fees, once the state and city took its cut.

That apparently undocumented arrangement "goes back decades," said Mayor David Cassetti. "Resolving this situation is made more difficult by the lack of adequate documentation pertaining to the account and the complexity of the issues in play."

Since taking office last month, Cassetti and John Marini, his corporation counsel, have taken several steps to change this.

On Friday morning, they plan to go to Wells Fargo to change the signatories on the account to Cassetti and City Comptroller William Nimons. That stems from unsubstantiated reports the account may have decreased to $270,000 in recent days.

"We don't want a sole signatory on the account anymore," Marini said.

During Tuesday's Board of Aldermen meeting, Cassetti and Marini convinced the Republican-controlled panel to pay BlumShapiro, a Shelton accounting firm, $25,000 to begin a forensic analysis dating back 14 years of the Wells Fargo account and the clerk's office's records.

"Without any accounting, any resolution will be based on a woefully incomplete set of facts," Cassetti told the board.

BlumShapiro said its work will include analysis of fees taken in by the office, and of all transactions including deposits, withdrawals, checks and wire transfers in the account. The accounting firm said it would also review of the city's audits to determine whether the account in question is reflected on the city's financial statements.

"They will begin work next week," Cassetti said. "We expect to have some answers by the February Board of Aldermen meeting."

On Dec. 10, the aldermen agreed to change the way the town and city clerk is paid. They raised the salary from $27,000 to $72,000, but dispensed with any type of commission arrangement.

Cassetti said that change will save taxpayers "thousands of dollars each year."

"All this is a start to doing things the right way," he said.

But the question remains as to who owns the money, whether it is $380,000, $350,000 or $270,000 -- three figures that have been bandied about.

Bottone, who served 14 years as the town/city clerk and did not run for re-election last November, claims the money belongs to her. She has consulted John Sponheimer, a local lawyer.

Neither Bottone or Sponheimer returned calls for comment Thursday.

"The documentation presently available to the mayor is insufficient to verify this claim," Marini, said adding that is why the review by BlumShapiro was sought.

Just how the city's fee arrangement with the clerk came about is unclear.

"It goes back a long, long way," said James Finnucan, who served as the city's mayor from 1977-83. He said the arrangement was in place during his terms, but doesn't know when it originated. "It just carried over from each clerk."

"It seems to be a home-brewed system that was in place for decades and goes back several administrations," Marini said. "No one is accusing Madeline of doing anything wrong."

Cassetti agreed.

"There is absolutely, positively no indication (Bottone) did anything wrong," the mayor said.

In fact, during Tuesday's meeting, Cassetti requested and the Aldermen approved sending Bottone a letter thanking her for her years of service to the city.

There have been published reports that Bottone previously used a portion of the money collected over the years to buy computer equipment and software for her office.

Still, Marini's said there is "no authority in state or city law that authorizes a system where the town and city clerk is paid both a salary and a commission on fees collected through that office. Moreover, that practice clearly conflicts with the City Charter and Code, which explicitly requires all fees to be paid to the treasurer each month."

Marini said the charter and state statute requires the clerk's office to maintain a ledger containing the name of the person paying, the fee paid and its purpose and the date the money was received. A monthly accounting is supposed to be made to the Board of Aldermen.

But Marini, who previously sat on the board, said he does not recall that ever happening.

Marc Garofalo, elected as nearby Derby's town and city clerk in November, said state statute allows a city/town clerk to keep excess fees, but only in lieu of a salary.

"That's probably a good deal, for some of the small towns," he said.

But it wasn't such a good deal for his city.

"We are a hospital town," he said, noting his city is home to Griffin Hospital. "All the births and deaths that take place there are registered in our town and city clerk's office."

As a result, Derby's clerk annually was making a lot of money decades ago -- perhaps more than $100,000.

Garofalo would not confirm that amount. He said no accounting was ever given to the city.

All that changed in 2000, when Garofalo was the Derby's mayor. He worked with the Board of Alderman to change the clerk position to a salaried one that now pays $73,000.

"In just looking at the operating expenses of running this city, it was a lot of income that (Derby) could have used to defray costs," he said.